Chinese Journal of Plant Ecology >
Seasonal dynamics of soil microbial biomass carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus stoichiometry across global forest ecosystems
- 1 State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
2 College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China
Received date: 2019-04-04
Revised date: 2019-06-12
Online published: 2019-09-30
Supported by
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31870458);the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences(QYZDB-SSW-DQC019)
Abstract
Aims Soil microorganisms in forest ecosystems play vital roles in regulating above- and belowground ecosystem processes and functions such as soil nutrient cycling, litter decomposition, net ecosystem productivity, and ecosystem succession. We aim to investigate broad-scale seasonal patterns of soil microbial biomass carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) stoichiometry. Methods By synthesizing 164 samples of soil microbial biomass C, N and P content derived from the published literature, we investigated global seasonal patterns of soil microbial C, N, P content and their ratios across three vegetation types of global forests. Important findings Soil microbial biomass C, N and P content in temperate and subtropical forests were lower in summer and higher in winter. Soil microbial biomass C, N and P content in tropical forests were lower than those in temperate and subtropical forests in four seasons. Soil microbial biomass C and N content in tropical forests were relatively the lowest in autumn, and soil microbial biomass P content was relatively constant in all seasons. The soil microbial biomass C:N of temperate forest was significantly higher than that of other two forest types in spring, and that of tropical forest was significantly higher than that of other two forest types in autumn. Soil microbial biomass N:P and C:P in temperate forests remained relatively constant in four seasons, while those in tropical forests were higher than those in other three seasons in summer. The soil microbial biomass C content, N content, N:P and C:P of broad-leaved trees were significantly higher than those of conifers in four seasons, while the soil microbial biomass P content of conifers was significantly higher than that of broad-leaved trees in four seasons. There was no significant difference in soil microbial biomass C:N between broad-leaved and coniferous trees in both spring and winter, but the soil microbial biomass C:N of coniferous trees was significantly higher than that of broad-leaved trees in summer and autumn. For the change of soil microbial biomass, season is not but forest type is the main significant factor, suggesting that the seasonal fluctuation of soil microbial biomass changes with the inherent periodic change of trees. Asynchronous nutrient uptake by plants and soil microorganisms is a trade-off mechanism between nutrient retention and ecological function maintenance.
Cite this article
LI Pin, Muledeer TUERHANBAI, TIAN Di, FENG Zhao-Zhong . Seasonal dynamics of soil microbial biomass carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus stoichiometry across global forest ecosystems[J]. Chinese Journal of Plant Ecology, 2019 , 43(6) : 532 -542 . DOI: 10.17521/cjpe.2019.0075
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